Cycling gadget help

ladymarmalade222

My OH has just purchased a cyclocross bike and has been getting to grips with it. He will do the odd commute to work and bike rides at weekend etc. I call it his mid-life crisis:D

He has mentioned getting some form of gadget to track his distance etc. I know he has been using his samsung s5 but i think he wants something dedicated to cycling so i was going to surprise him for fathers day.


I am getting confused with heartrate monitors etc. Could anybody explain what could be beneficial for him and makes to avoid etc as this realy is not my expertise, I am a born sloth:rotfl:

Thanks everyone for reading

Xx

Cycrow

It really depends on how much you are willing to spend, and what he actually wants from it.

the best ones to get are usually the garmins, but they are not cheap.

There is the Garmin Edge 200, which you can usually pick up quite cheap. Its limited compared to the more expensive models, but it does use gps to record the ride and allow you to upload it to Garmin Connect or Strava.

It will record things like distance, speed, etc.
You cant combine it with other sensors thou, so you cant use it with heart rate monitors, or cadence sensors

ladymarmalade222

How much am I looking to spend if I want to get him something he can later add on a heartrate monitor etc? I am reluctant to buy one that he will grow out of in a couple of months so happy to spend a bit more so he can buy accessories later if that makes sense?

Are garmin one of the better brands?

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

Xx

flea72

If he only wants to track distance then aldi do a basic computer for about £4.

However if he wants to record routes, or download other peoples to follow, then a mapped system is what he needs. Garmin is the brand the majority of cyclist use for this, as it can easily be linked up to strava (an app used by cyclists). The lower end garmins wont do anything different to what the gps on his phone currently does. Personally if you think hes gna start getting serious about cycling, i wld go for the 800, as it covers all bases and wld only need upgrading if hes into keeping up with the joneses

fat-pudding

A good starter kit is the Garmin Edge 500 without the hrm and speed+cadence sensor it's about £115, to get it with the hrm and speed+cadence sensor is £150.

I wouldn't bother with the edge 200 as that doesn't really give you much more than using a phone (apart from better battery life) as you can't add the speed/cadence sensor or hrm.

One other option is that I think the Galaxy S5 has ANT+ support (you'd need to check that!) so you could always buy him the hrm and speed+cadence sensor now and get a computer later however he'd need to use endomondo to track cycling and then upload it to strava later (assuming he uses strava, most people do).

AndyBSG

As mentioned above, what he wants it for and how much you're willing to spend are the key factors

If he just wants it for the basics which record current speed, top speed, time, distance, etc then I would recommend the 'Cateye Strada' which should cost about £40.

The next step up from those is really quite a leap though as you're then into the realms of GPS computers which start at over £100 but will do things like plan and record routes which will allow you to see things like total climb and descent, compare routes and time with other users on sites like Strava etc.

In all honesty, the Cateye Strada should be ample for his needs if he's only recently started as GPS units really are specialist bits of kit.

fat-pudding

AndyBSG wrote: »

In all honesty, the Cateye Strada should be ample for his needs if he's only recently started as GPS units really are specialist bits of kit.

As he's already been using an S5 I would think a Cateye Strada (depending on which model) would be quite a step down in terms of functionality as I would imagine he's using Strava and GPS to track rides.

I'd suggest that at least buying an ANT+ heart rate monitor and speed+cadence sensor (if the S5 does have ANT+) would add more functionality and allow purchase of a dedicated unit later on.

LeafGreen

A rough idea of your budget range would be very useful but I've had a Garmin Vivoactive watch (about £180) for the last couple of months which I really like. It has modes for cycling as well as running and swimming lengths (and golf, not that I play!) It will also sync with compatible phones to give call/msg alerts. And it acts as a step counter too (although bike rides seem to mess with the figures).

FBaby

Has he actually been looking into it? I personally think that the best thing you can do is get him a voucher towards it as they are many models around and different people care about different features.

Retrogamer

I've a Galaxy S5 as well and use Endomondo on it.
Not found anything better for recording cycling data so far.

zaax

There's an app for that - http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/best-cycling-apps-143222

I use noom cardiotrainer which can be used for walking as well

That way you can race against other people, but please stop at red lights.